"Ah," replied Thornhill. "Well, I agree with you, Prior. Good-bye."

CHAPTER FIVE.

THE ETHIOPIAN EMISSARY.

The kraals of the chief, Babatyana, lay sleeping. So brilliant was this starlight, however, that the yellow domes of the thatch huts could be distinguished from the ridge--even counted. The latter operation would have resulted in the discovery that the collection of kraals, dotted along the wide, bushy valley, numbered among them some three hundred huts; but these, of course, represented only a section of the tribe over which Babatyana was chief.

It is a strange sight that of a large, sleeping kraal--or a number of them, in the wizard hush and calm beauty of an African night. It is so in harmony with setting and surrounding; the starlight showing up the ghostly loom of mountain, or suggesting the weird mystery of dark wilderness lying beneath, where deadly things creep and lurk. And then, these human habitations, themselves constructed of the gra.s.s which springs up around them, of the very thorns which impede the progress of their denizens, they stand, in primitive symmetry--not rude, because that which is circular is nothing if not symmetrical--lying there in their pathetic insignificance under the vast height of Heaven's vault.

And the said denizens sleeping there! Hopes and fears, virtues and vices; capacity for intrigue, cupidity; redeeming traits, human weaknesses--all the same, whether sleeping within the kraal of the savage to the lullaby of the voices of prowling creatures of the night, or in stately mansion amid the roar and rattle of the metropolis of the world. All the same--all, all!

The air is fresh and sweet with the fragrance of flowering shrubs, is faintly melodious with the ghostly whistle of circling plover invisible overhead. The cry of a jackal rings out from the hillside, receding further and further, to be answered again from another point in the misty gloom--then the bark of a restless dog in some slumbering kraal beneath. Or the hoot of a night bird hawking above the silent expanse, and the droning boom of a great beetle mingling with the shrill, whistling voice of tree frogs. Man is silent, but Nature never.

Along the ridge overlooking Babatyana's kraals a dusty waggon road winds like a riband, distinguishable from the darker veldt in the starlight.

It follows the apex of the ridge, and is just the place to avoid during those dry thunder-storms which in Natal seem to hunt in couples nearly every day during the hot months. Then the wayfarer may well leave the highway, and dive down into one of the bushy kloofs on either side, and wait until the turmoil pa.s.ses; for the lightning will strike down upon that high, exposed pathway, every sheeting flash not much less dangerous than a sh.e.l.l from hostile artillery.

To-night, however, the elements are at peace, but man is represented by a single unit.

Natives, as a rule, are not given to wandering about alone at night, but this one is obviously here with a purpose. Like a statue he stands, gazing down the road as though on the look-out for something or somebody. He is a tall man, and ringed: and as he wraps his blanket closer around him--for there is a tinge of chill in the night air--and takes a few paces, it might be seen that he walks with a slight limp.

Another hour goes by, and still he stands, ever watchful, and suffering nothing to escape him, for the patience of the savage is inexhaustible.

And now a glow suffuses the far horizon, widening and brightening; then the broad disc of a full moon soars redly aloft, and lo, the land is steeped in subdued unearthly light--plain, and ridge, and distant mountain, all stand revealed; and the cl.u.s.ters of domed huts in the broad valley beneath show out sharply defined. But these are no longer silent. First a low, long-drawn wail, then another and another from different points, culminating in still more drawn out howls, and the dismal sounds echo through the silence in weird cadence. Half the curs in the slumbering kraals are baying the newly risen moon.

Her light falls full upon the watcher, throwing out his tall form into statuesque relief, and glinting on the polished shine of his head-ring.

But for the limp his gait as he slowly paces up and down would be a stately one. Even then there is an unconscious dignity about the man, as with head held proudly aloft, he gazes out over the moonlit expanse, and it is the dignity of a natural ruler of men.

Suddenly he stops short in his walk, and stands, listening intently.

You or I could have heard nothing, but he can, and what he hears is the sound of hoof-strokes.

Down the road now he takes his way, walking rapidly, and soon the hoof-strokes draw very near indeed. Then he stops, and starts singing to himself in a low, melodious croon.

The horseman appears in sight, advancing at a pace that is half jog-trot, half canter. The moonlight reveals a thick-set, burly figure, encased in a suit of clerical black. But the face which now shows between the bow of the white "choker" and the wide-awake hat is not many shades lighter than the whole get-up.

"_Saku bona, Mfundisi_," is the greeting of the watcher, whose singing, purposely turned on to guard against the horse shying or stampeding at the sudden appearance of anything living, has had that effect.

"_Yeh-bo_," answered the other. "Do I see Manamandhla, the Zulu?"

"Of the People of the Heavens am I, _Umfundisi_," was the reply, but the tone in which the speaker enunciates the word "Umfundisi"--which means "teacher" or "missionary"--contains a very thinly veiled sneer. "The people down there have been awaiting you long."

"In the Cause, brother, in our holy Cause, no man's time is his own,"

answered the horseman, sanctimoniously. "_Whau_! have not I been inoculating its sacred principles into the people at Ncapele's kraal--or striving to, for Ncapele is old, and when a man is old enthusiasm is dead within him. It is the young whom we have to teach. Wherefore I could not turn my back upon him too soon."

The speaker did not think it necessary to explain that the undue time it had taken to roast the succulent young goat which Ncapele had caused to be slaughtered for his refection had had anything to do with the lateness of his arrival. For that chief, although "a heathen man," was not unmindful of the duties of hospitality. Which definition applied equally to Manamandhla the Zulu; wherefore the att.i.tude of that fine savage towards the smug preacher to whom he had undertaken the office of guide, was one of ill-concealed contempt.

"And the people--the people of Babatyana," went on the latter, "are they ready to hear the good news--the glorious gospel of light and freedom?"

"They are ready," answered Manamandhla, who was striding beside the other, easily keeping pace with the horse. "They are ready--ah-ah--very ready."

"That is well--very well."

Here was an edifying picture, was it not, this zealous missionary, labouring day and night to spread the good news among the benighted heathen, and he one of their own colour? They, too, waiting to welcome him, to give up their night's rest even, in order to hang upon his words--truly a heart-stirring picture, was it not?

We shall see.

Guided by Manamandhla by short cuts across the veldt, the traveller was not long in reaching his destination. His arrival had been momentarily expected, and with the first distant sounds of his horse's hoofs, the carcase of a recently slaughtered goat had been quartered up and placed upon a fire of glowing embers. The preacher rubbed his fat hands together with antic.i.p.atory delight as his broad nostrils snuffed from afar the savoury odour of the roast.

"Ah brother, the people are ever hospitable to those who bring them tidings of the Cause," he remarked, complacently.

"And to those who do not," rejoined the Zulu.

a.s.suredly the emissary had no reason to complain of the substantial nature of his reception, and so decided that worthy himself, as he sat within the chief's hut, tearing the juicy meat from the ribs with his teeth, and washing it down with huge draughts from the bowls of _tywala_ which had been brought in. Ah, it was good to live like this. Meat-- everywhere--plenty of it, wherever he went--meat--fresh, and succulent and juicy, as different as day from night to the dried up, tasteless, insipid stuff to which he sat down when in civilisation. _Tywala_ too-- newly brewed, humming, and, above all, plentiful. Yes, it was good! He had taken off his black coat and waistcoat, mainly with the object of preserving them from grease. Indeed had he followed his own inclination it is far from certain that he would not have taken off everything else.

It was a disgusting spectacle, this fat, smug, black preacher, sitting there in his shirt, his white choker all awry, tearing at the steaming bones like a dog, his face and hands smeared with grease; a revolting sight, immeasurably more so than that of the ring of unclothed savages who were his entertainers and fellow feasters.

Nothing was heard but the champ of hungry jaws. Such a serious matter as eating must not be interfered with by conversation. At last there was very little left of the carcase of the goat but the bones, and one by one the feasters dropped out and leaned back against the walls of the hut.

The latter was lighted by two candles stuck in bottle necks, a device learned from the white man. Babatyana and several others started pipes, also an inst.i.tution learned from the white man. But Manamandhla, the conservative Zulu, confined himself to the contents of his snuff-horn.

Secretly, in his heart of hearts, he held his entertainers in some degree of contempt, as became one of the royal race. Babatyana was an influential chief, but only so by favour of the whites. What was he but a Kafula [term of contempt used by Zulus for Natal natives]? But Manamandhla was far too shrewd to impair the success of his mission by suffering any of his secret feelings to appear.

All the same, although he lived on the wrong side of the river from the other's point of view, there was very little admixture of baser blood in Babatyana's system. His father had been a Zulu of pure blood and his mother very nearly so. They had crossed into Natal as refugees, after Nongalaza defeated Dingane, and had there remained. Seen in the dim light of the candles, Babatyana was an elderly man, with a shrewd, lined face; in fact there was no perceptible difference in his aspect or bearing from that of those who affected to despise him. Now he turned to his guest.

"The news, brother, what is it?"

"The news? _Au_! it is great. Everywhere we have our emissaries; everywhere the people are listening. They are tired of being dogs to the whites: tired of having to send their children away to work, so as to find money to pay the whites. Soon our plan of deliverance will be complete, soon when we have brought home universal brotherhood to those of one colour--and, brothers, the time is now very near."

"And that time--when it comes--who will lead the people, _Umfundisi_?"

asked an old head-ringed man who was seated next to the chief.

"The leader will be found," was the ready answer. "It may be that he is found--already found."

"Is he found on this side of the river or on the other?" went on the old man, who was inclined to "heckle" the visitor.

"That, as yet, is dark. But--he is found."

A murmur went round the group. They were becoming interested. Only Manamandhla remained perfectly impa.s.sive. He made no remarks and asked no questions.

The conversation ran on in subdued tones, which however grew more and more animated. The emissary was glib of tongue and knew how to hold his audience. At last Babatyana said:

"It sounds well, Jobo. Now is the time to tell it--or some of it--to the people outside. They wait to hear."

The Rev Job Magwegwe--by the way the name by which the chief had addressed him was a corruption of his "Christiana" name--was an educated Fingo, hailing from the Cape Colony, where he had been trained for a missionary, and finally became a qualified minister in one of the more important sects whose activity lay in that direction. But he promptly saw that in the capacity of missionary he was going to prove a failure.

Those of his own colour openly scoffed at him. What could he teach them, they asked? He was one of themselves, his father was So-and-So-- and no better than any of them. The whites could teach them things, but a black man could not teach a black man anything. And so on.

But luck befriended the Rev. Job. The Ethiopian movement had just come into being, and here he saw his chance. There was more to be made by going about among distant races where his origin was not known, living on the fat of the land, and preaching a visionary deliverance from imaginary evils to those well attuned to listen, than staying at home, striving to drill into a contemptuous audience the "tenets" of a dry-as-dust and very defective form of Christianity. So he promptly migrated to Natal, and being a plausible, smooth-tongued rogue soon found himself in clover, in the official capacity of an accredited emissary of the "Ethiopian Church," whose mission it was to instil in the native mind the high-sounding doctrine of "Africa for its natives."